The nature and energetics of AGN-driven perturbations in the hot gas in the Perseus Cluster

TL;DR

This study analyzes the nature and energy distribution of gas perturbations in the Perseus Cluster's core, revealing that most AGN energy is stored in bubbles rather than shocks, supporting the bubble-mediated feedback model.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed statistical analysis of gas fluctuations in the Perseus core, quantifying the energy partition between bubbles and shocks in AGN feedback.

Findings

80% of perturbations are isobaric, indicating slow gas displacements.

Approximately 13% of the energy is in non-thermal fluctuations.

Most AGN energy is stored in bubbles, not shocks.

Abstract

Cores of relaxed galaxy clusters are often disturbed by AGN. Their Chandra observations revealed a wealth of structures induced by shocks, subsonic gas motions, bubbles of relativistic plasma, etc. In this paper, we determine the nature and energy content of gas fluctuations in the Perseus core by probing statistical properties of emissivity fluctuations imprinted in the soft- and hard-band X-ray images. About 80 per cent of the total variance of perturbations on ~ 8-70 kpc scales in the inner region have an isobaric nature, i.e., are consistent with slow displacements of the gas in pressure equilibrium with ambient medium. Observed variance translates to the ratio of non-thermal to thermal energy of ~13 per cent. In the region dominated by weak "ripples", about half of the total variance is also associated with isobaric perturbations on scales ~ a few tens of kpc. If these isobaric perturbations are induced by buoyantly rising bubbles, then these results suggest that most of the AGN-injected energy should first go into bubbles rather than into shocks. Using simulations of a shock propagating through the Perseus atmosphere, we found that models reproducing the observed features of a central shock have more than 50 per cent of the AGN-injected energy associated with the bubble enthalpy and only about 20 per cent is carried away with the shock. Such energy partition is consistent with the AGN-feedback model, mediated by bubbles of relativistic plasma, and supports the importance of turbulence in the balance between gas heating and radiative cooling.